We are the Travel Bloggers behind Two Monkeys Travel Group but I decided to start my new personal blog to document our daily life and adventures.

What is Mr & Mrs Howe all about?

I have had so many fears throughout my life, which is why I quit everything for the life of the unknown until I met a guy who is full of dreams and eventually became my husband!

Having met in a backpackers' bar in Luang Prabang in 2013, we've been traveling the world together through more than 80 countries and every continent, including Antarctica (but Kach has been to 125 countries as of May 2019, read here.)

Having travelled the world and lived a life of freedom and excitement for more than three years, we finally got married in July 2016 and now we're looking to the future.

I never would have guessed that after several years of nomadic life, I'm finally ready to start thinking about finding a home, settling down, even learning how to do things around the home! In May 2017, we bought our own SAILBOAT named EMPRESS but we sold her after 2 years of sailing in the Caribbean with our two cats, Captain Ahab & Zissou (read our sailing stories here).

We recently moved to Montenegro on May 2019 to continue our adventures. You can read our Daily Blog here.

Our Love Story

We had both started out on the same path before we ever knew each other existed. We both decided to leave the nine-to-five career lifestyle, sell off our possessions and travel the world. Our paths first crossed in the small, historic town of Luang Prabang in Laos. I (Jonathan) was on a budget motorbike trip around Asia, while Kach was backpacking with her brother and sister.

We spent a lot of time together for a couple of days, visiting waterfalls and exploring the countryside on my motorbike, but then it was time to continue on our separate ways. Kach travelled on with her brother and sister for another month, before starting a month-long yoga retreat in Thailand and I travelled on to Hanoi, Vietnam to look for work teaching English. We kept in touch online, talking every day and I convinced her to come visit me in Hanoi for two weeks. Well, two weeks came and went and we’ve been together ever since! After seven months of teaching English to save money, we flew to India, where we studied to become yoga teachers and Ayurveda massage therapists.

Since then, we’ve travelled all over South East Asia, India, the Maldives, the UK, the United States, South America and Central America. (Before long term travel, Jonathan grew up in Kenya and Malawi and travelled to almost 20 countries with his family and friends while Kach had already visited over 15 countries in the Middle East and other parts of Asia)

About kach & Jonathan

1. How old are you?Kach —> born in 1988Jonathan —> born in 1984

2. How do you pronounce “Kach”?It sounds like “catch” =)

3. Where are you from?Kach —> Laguna, PhilippinesJonathan —> Stroud, United Kingdom

Unlike what other people think, it’s not easy to change your nationality even though I’m married to a British citizen. I’ve been traveling the world with my Philippines Passport! It’s hard but doable. You can read my visa experiences, here.

5. How long have you been together?

We’re together since 2013 and married since 2016! =)

We met on May 14, 2013 in Luang Prabang, Laos.

We officially became a couple on my birthday, July 31, 2013, while in Hanoi, Vietnam.

We got engaged on June 07, 2015 while sailing in San Blas Islands, Panama.

We got MARRIED on July 12, 2016 in Henley-on-Thames, United Kingdom.

6. What were you doing before traveling?Kach – OFW (Admin/ Quality Assurance) in the Middle East (Kuwait and Kurdistan, Iraq)Jonathan – Architectural Technologist in Wales, UK

7. How do you fund your travels?We started with our own savings then Teaching English in Vietnam where we saved almost 12,000 USD. You can read our teaching experience in Hanoi, Vietnam here! We also love volunteering! We started volunteering (waitress, hostel cleaner, cook) while investing in our Tantra Yoga certification and Ayurveda massage therapy in India. After getting certified, we practiced and made a living out of it. After all of those experiences, we decided to have our own travel blog in 2014 as our main source of income.

8. How many countries/ territories have you been to?Together – over 80 countriesKach – 135 countries (as of July 2019)Jonathan – over 90 countries

Come back after a few months, I will start writing it down!

9. When did you start Travel Blogging?We had an idea to start the blog in May 2014 but we officially launched it in the last week of October 2014.

10. How do you manage your finances on the road?We didn’t have a credit card until last year (2016).. we only used Cash, PayPal, my PHL’s bank account and Jonathan’s Debit card. You can read how we did it.

11. For KACH – How do you apply for visas if they are required for Philippines passport?I usually go to the Embassy of the country where I’m traveling. First, I check and read the Foreign affairs website of that country and from there, I go to the Embassy office and bring all the required documents. I’ve never tried applying for visas in the Philippines.

5. For Filipinos: Do I need a return flight ticket to the Philippines when I travel long term?

If you’re already based abroad, you will only be required an onward flight ticket and not necessarily a ticket back to the Philippines. This is based on my personal experience, I left the Philippines in 2013 and only returned on 2017 after visiting 70 countries.

However, if you will begin your journey from Manila or Cebu then the immigration official will ask you to provide a return flight to the Philippines. Long-term travel is not yet a common thing in the Philippines.

AWARDS & NOMINATIONS

SINCE WE OFFICIALLY STARTED BLOGGING IN OCTOBER 2014, WE HAVE ALREADY BEEN NOMINATED AND WON VARIOUS TRAVEL BLOGGING AWARDS IN THE USA, UK, PHILIPPINES AND SOUTH AFRICA. HERE ARE THE LIST OF ALL THE AWARDS, RECOGNITIONS, FEATURES AS WELL AS OUR WRITING PORTFOLIO.